MC Community: Where is it going?

[Yva Minstrel]

The Dorms are a little tougher to get into, true.

I have never felt myself too terribly inclined to get involved with that aspect of the forum, so there's no problem for me there. I mean; I'm sure that the folks here are very nice about helping someone get into that if they wanted to be involed in it. Of that I have no doubts whatsoever.

What really bothers me is that recently, about a week after I started posting here, I was reading this one thread where the author asked a question. I thought it was an interesting topic so I wrote a respose to it, and then two people came in and hijacked it. My comments were never even responded to and were basically ignored. In a day's time it had a ton of new responses, none of which were on topic.

The thing that hurts is that I am left to feel as though what I had to say was not even important or held any significance. I'm a patient sort of person, I just stuck it out and didn't go into whine mode about it, but I was very hurt. The thread in question had evolved into the state of off topic-ness that it no longer was interesting or even remotely amusing to me. It was just boring, and there was no way I could have gotten involved in that thread at all, because I had tried, but to no avail.

To me, that went way beyond the fact that it was just members being silly. Silly, I can handle, and I can act weird with the best of them, don't let my age fool you. But, after that incident happened, I started to notice that this was not a 'random' event that happened. It was happening in a lot of other threads as well, even threds started by the Administrators.

Basically, I am under the distinct impression that my comments are not in 'style' with the hip and super groovy around here. If that sort of thing happens to newbies who are much younger and impressionable than I am, then I do not forsee this forum growing by leaps and bounds. There have been moments since my coming here when I myself felt inclined to pack up and leave.

(By the way, Yva, I must say I admire the fact that you've refered back to the rules multiple times... I don't think I've looked at them at all since the day I joined.) But it's also-- as far as I know-- part of the spirit of MC. Pure insanity. I realize it's not always appropriate, of course...

Yes, that is true. The problem is, and I don't want to come across as a fuddy duddy for having cited the rules, but they are there for a reason. Just because silliness and insanity are the norm doesn't mean that the rules should be cancelled out.

That gives new people very mixed signals about the effectiveness of the moderators / administrators. As a newer member of this forum, I have found myself becoming increasingly confused by this grey area. When I came in here and started seeing Senior Members hijacking threads (thus breaking the rules), then I started asking myself what I'm supposed to think about this.

Does this mean that this behavior is okay? Or is this merely a quirk for being a Senior Member? To me, the rules should apply to everyone not just to newbies who happen by this forum. If there's going to be harmony to go along with the lunacy here, then the rules should be adhered to by everyone, not just by certain members. But along those same lines, they should also be enforced.

Just MHO. But thanks for your thoughts and comments.

 

[D'Snowth]

My big grievance is the fact that while there are rules to this forum, people seem to have decided to disregard them entirely.

I think what the main problem in this department is that MC is such a laid-back community, that people are kind of taking it with a grain-of-salt, or taking it for granted.

I can only name FOUR incidents here in the past (since I've been here) that have resulted in consequences...

1. Apparently Kimp the Shrimp and another member who never returned, HPDJ, got into a fight in a game thread that resulted in the two of them being suspended.

2. Then, of course, EVERYBODY remember the gruesome twosome that was SuperMuppet and Baba, who did nothing more than post useless crap about nothing, and spam advertisements for their own muppet forum which they always claimed is "So much better than our competitor Muppet Central Forum".

3. Another example is Kendra (furryredmonster) being suspended because of a disagreement she got into with Kevin; about what? I forget now, but I remember it seeming kind of harsh, but I think Kevin acted in the way he, as a moderator, felt was best to deal with the situation.

4. Dude112. That guy was actually LOOKING to be banned from here. Again, all he did was just post thread upon thread upon thread upon thread of useless garbage that most of the time, contained fishy looking links.

Other than that, most of them time, I believe it's expected of us that we're mature and civilized enough to not cause trouble around here, but again, because MC is such a laid back community, rules seem to go ignored around here. I've known other forums that literally have no rules whatsoever, but if you annoy people, you get the banhammer without question!

 

[rtgentry]

dont forget about Bigbirdfan and bobhopesite. forgive me if the names are close but not exact

 

[D'Snowth]

dont forget about Bigbirdfan and bobhopesite. forgive me if the names are close but not exact

Keith (bobhopesite) learned his lesson, but bigbirdfan on the other had, yes, how could I forget about him? Or clubcarman, or any other aliases he went under around here just to spread his/her weirdo propaganda?

 

[Redsonga]

Keith (bobhopesite) learned his lesson, but bigbirdfan on the other had, yes, how could I forget about him? Or clubcarman, or any other aliases he went under around here just to spread his/her weirdo propaganda?

It sounds like something I should be glad I missed

 

[Beauregard]

Let's not go about dragging up names from the past, please. They've all had their lessons learnt, and I totally get your point about us being laid-back...but let's not bring up all the people who have been banned just for the sake of it, 'k?

 

[Katzi428]

All right...jumping into this thread (but hoping I don't gain enemies with it.) I don't think the religious threads belong here.Yes there are people here that believe in God. But there are others who don't. We need to respect those people.So if the religious threads could be cut down,I for one,would appreciate it.
Also,there are some people who post for the sake of posting. As Drew Carey on Whose Line Is It Anyway says,"The points don't matter." If you post a couple sentences just to get to Senior status or whatever,I don't call that fair!
stepping off my soapbox

 

[D'Snowth]

Yeeeee!

*Grabs Jeanette and runs away*

 

[TogetherAgain]

I don't think the religious threads belong here.Yes there are people here that believe in God. But there are others who don't. We need to respect those people.So if the religious threads could be cut down,I for one,would appreciate it.

I totally second that. Personally, I've always just avoided threads that looked religious in nature, because, well, I'm Jewish, and I feel pretty awkward in a religious discussion that assumes everyone participating in said discussion is Christian. I don't know if that happens when religion comes up here, because like I said, I've always avoided it... But since it's been brought up, it would be nice if I didn't find myself dodging quite as much.

 

[Colbynfriends]

I know I'm new here too, but I've gotta say you have alot of good points Prawnie. I'll admit, I have been involved muffining threads, (usally when other people have already started) but I see it as joking around, as long as someone gets back on topic, you know. But if it goes on for like 5 pages (unless the thread is dead, like the "gee the fourm is dead today thread") then i think it might be a bit much. Funny, I never saw us as arguing, but I don't visit all of the threads, so maybe. I've only known one person, no name, that I've gotten in arguements with, and for that I am sorry. More moderators would be nice also.